>> coming to you live from berlin. >> here is our top stories. >> celebrating 22 years of german unity with a passionate call for europe to come together. >> in syria, 31 people are killed after a series of car bombs target government forces in aleppo. >> the u.s. revs up what europe stalls. -- while europe's tallest. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- it is the day the people of germany celebrate the unity. 22 years ago, east and west

reunited with the blessing of their european neighbors. now there has been a pill to draw the right lessons in the crisis europe faces. >> the president of the parliament says his country must strive for greater unity in europe and he warned against perverting -- reverting to old national rivalries as the weaker members of the eurozone struggle. >> the speech in munich is the center of the celebration. >> the ceremony began with music from richard strauss's opera. more than 1500 people attended the ceremony, including germany's top political leaders. the bavarian state premier compared the process of german

unification to that of creating a united europe. then he gave the keynote address. >> we are german europeans. we must devote to the nfl -- unification of europe the same effort we made in german unification. he added that it was a precondition for the integration of eastern and western europe that would come later. on october the third, 1990, germans from east and west celebrated the reunification. hear, the wall started to crumble. the chancellor had worked out the details. , "gorbachev's approval was key. they signed the treaty in august 31, 1990. it was the end of divided germany and the beginning of a

new germany that would grow to become europe's largest economy. as he continued his speech coming he said the germans had shown tremendous solidarity toward one another. he said a similar effort must be made on the process of european integration. >> only in europe, working with our neighbors and partners in this community, can we, and will we, be able to achieve our common goals, as they are described in our national anthem, unity, justice, and freedom. >> it was a message of hope in the face of mounting economic and social tensions across the european union. >> 31 people are dead in the syrian city of aleppo after a suicide bombing in the government controlled part of

the city. >> aleoppo has been a major battleground. the two sides seemed to be deadlocked. >> crate a huge amount of explosives was used in this attack. months of warfare have reduced the once magnificent buildings in the square to ruins. wednesday's explosions ripped through a military office club and a hotel. it is caught most of those killed were government soldiers. -- thought most of those killed were government soldiers. >> we condemn these crimes and we contain the nation's plotting against us to support the terrorists. >> ralph forces suspected of carrying out the attack announced last week a new offensive aimed at retaking the city.

these images from tuesday's show clashes between government forces and rebels in the city. the rebels are seeking to advanced street by street from the east. the army has control of the west. neither side appears to have made significant gains. president bashar al-assad is said to have ordered thousands of reinforcements to aleppo. >> a mortar bomb has killed five people in a turkish border town. one of the victims was a 6-year- old boy. >> the shell landed on the southeastern border with syria. at least nine others were injured. the turkish foreign minister brief to the u.n. envoy to syria on the attack. a shell hit the same town last friday but there were no deaths. >> for more, we can go to suzanne in istanbul. what more can you tell us about

the incident? can we be sure who fired it? >> the turks into be sure because they have already fired back. the prime minister has said they have attacked after determining targets on the syrian site and they said they hit their targets. they have retaliated so for the first time this is a tit-for- tat. so the situation is hot. >> can we expect any more pressure from within turkey for more action? >> absolutely. the prime minister and the foreign minister have been on the phone calling everybody. they especially expect a move from nato. the turks were not happy when they shrugged their shoulders the last time around. and now they really want to see solidarity. nato ambassadors are going to meet tomorrow and we can be

sure turkey will pressure nato. >> obviously a developing situation. thank you very much. a few hours to go into the biggest moment in the u.s. election campaign, the first tv debate. president obama will go head-to- head with mitt romney and the stakes are high for both men. >> romney has had a rough few weeks with gaffes. obama is desperate to open up a clear lead with over a month until election day. >> and have been both preparing for the debate in denver. >> the first presidential debate is causing havoc, highways. security is tight in denver. the state of colorado is a tossup between the candidates, making this crucial period every di tella said, even the room temperature and lighting.

president obama leads republican challenger mitt romney by three percentage points in national polls. romney is within striking distance. both men have been preparing for weeks. president obama's advisers have been telling him not to be professorial. do not speak for too long. for mitt romney, they're saying do not commit a gaffe. try to stay on message. that is why he has practiced. >> mitt romney arrived in denver early, visiting a mexican fast- food restaurant. this and a 7% of hispanic voters in the u.s. support obama. the president spent three days preparing in nevada where he took time off to visit the hoover dam before leaving for denver. >> the trial over the former butler for the pope went into its third day today. >> in a briefing, the spokesman said police describe how they

found documents at department. police say the pope had marked some of them to be destroyed. a tunnel is expected to return its critic on saturday -- panel is expected to return its verdict on saturday. >> the country has sought to bonds that are due to mature for longer-term debt. that reduces the amount portugal will have to repay next year by nearly four billion euros. the country is in dire straits, though. the economy is expected to shrink by 3.3% and unemployment is at 15.9%. trading in frankfurt was quiet as a result of the public holiday. our correspondence sent us this report from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the traders, like traders anywhere, are always looking for direction, always looking

for something to point them in the right direction but they did not find it this day. there was mixed news from the eurozone, greece still in trouble and portugal with much -- a much better situation, testing its viability in the financial market. the dax going up and down as a result. factoring in economic news from the united states, which was also mixed. some good, some bacteria and waiting for spain to make a decision on whether it would take help from the european bailout fund. it hopes to get an explanation, perhaps, from mario draghi, the president of the ecb after the central bank will have met. >> let's take a closer look at some of the market members. teh dax close the day almost a quarter percent up. the euro stoxx 50 close to just

a tad down at 2492. across the atlantic, the dow jones is going down. 13,000 four hundred 73 the number there and the euro is trading for $1.29. in belgium, a 24 hour strike by rail workers has paralyzed the train network. but the service between london and brussels had to be suspended. >> it has also disrupted the high-speed services between france and germany. workers are protesting plans to restructure belgium's state railway. the action is set to and within the hour. >> to iran where protesters in the capital have clashed with riot police. they are angered by the collapse of the country's currency. it plunged to record lows this week. >> demonstrators gathered and they shouted slogans against the

president, mahmoud i am -- on a new job -- ' >> hundreds of protesters have gathered in cairo to demand that women's rights be protected in egypt's new constitution. >> it has caused alarm among women and the country's christian minority. it seeks to legalize female genital mutilation and limit women's rights to work and education. >> democracy activists says is it an authoritarian side of the governing muslim brotherhood and the new president. >> many ordinary egyptians had high hopes for the post revolutionary time. this glass blower believed a new president would restart --

restore calm. his son voted for mohammad because he regarded him as the most honest. >> we had great expectations. we wanted a better life. but now we are all afraid of the future. nothing has improved. >> egyptians had hoped life would become more affordable after the inflation sparked by the revolution. his wife complains that everything is much more expensive. she says the price of eggs has doubled and the family struggling to make ends meet. what does concern is the increasing authority and authoritarian stance. most of the national press is already controlled by the movement, either directly or indirectly. there is an absence of criticism of morsi.

this person is an editor of the state on paper. the peace she wrote was censored. -- piece she wrote was censored. >> it is about controlling the media. they want to force them to follow a certain direction. we have counted 14 attacks on the media. >> the family says they're not sure they would vote for him again. he says islamists are damaging tourism, which is affecting his livelihood. >> the country is not the same anymore. people are afraid. we can barely keep our heads above water. >> but he says there is one promise kept, the police have increased their presence. that has made daily life safer. >> we will be back in just a minute with more on the day of german unity. >> and we will take a look at one of because -- of the key

barometers of the economy, the car market. stick around.

>> as in germany marks unification day, we look at some of the real-life dramas this route of the many attempts to escape from the communist regime. >> it has all of the makings of a cold war thriller. it underscores the unbelievable courage of those who defied. >> of course, those who risked their own lives to help them. >> it has been almost 40 years now. the border between what used to be west and east germany is long gone but there is a queasy feeling. a stretch of the old fences still standing. -- fence is still standing. if this man had not been there,

this man might not be alive today. in november, 1973, the east german was very close to the west. he was here with his bulldozer to knock down the wall under the watch of two east german border guards. on day five, a patrol unit suddenly appeared. while his guards were distracted, he made a run for it. >> all of a sudden, he went right past me like a rabbit. over a boundary line that was about a meter high. i saw out of the corner of my eye that one of the guards was trying to in his rifle. -- aim his rifle. >> but he was a little bit faster. >> before they could raise their weapons, they were looking down the barrel of my pistol and then it was my a -- all over.

>> he kept his pistol aim to. -- aimed. now the to meet every year to celebrate their birthdays. it will be here next year to mark the 40th anniversary of their initial meeting. a meeting lasted a few seconds. >> thousands of east germans risked everything they had to escape to freedom in the west and many paid with their lives. >> lets me some more the people who manage to escape and find out how they did it. -- let s's meet some more people who managed to escape and find out how they did it. >> evelyn flat through a tunnel -- fled through a tunnel dug by her future husband. >> that was the first time i saw her. my attention was on other things

at the time, but i noticed her and saw she was not bad looking. that was it. >> this is where the escape tunnel emerged and where her freedom began after she had crawled the 130 meters beneath the berlin wall. >> i climbed the steps and fainted for the first time. i heard a high-pitched sound and someone handed me my child. i have lost my shoes in the tunnel. we were covered with clay. the first thing i did was to attend to my child. we had finally made it. >> evelyn waugh's first out of the tunnel. then came her daughter and her then-husband. the escape from communist east germany broke a couple apart. evelyn began to grow curious about the westerners who had

spent months digging the tunnel, especially this person. >> most of them were getting friends or relatives out that he only did it to help other people. i heard about that and it impressed me. then we got to know each other but we did not marry until 1971. >> today, they can move freely. the site of the escape is today a place for contemplation. >> we started digging here and a factor on this property. over to hear. this must have been one of these houses. >> they broke through in the cellar of #seven in east berlin. he had to ask where they have come up. the refugees were preparing their getaway.

>> then the courier came and told us the time. we had to go and sit in a pub. she told us an address and said when she bought a box of matches, we had to go to number 710 minutes later. -- number 7 10 minutes later. >> everything had to happen fast. but he and his friends were in luck. in the end, 29 people manage to flee. -- managed to flee. they had found a way through the border. it was a victory for the tunnel builders who had realize that the wall was a permanent fixture. -- realized the wall was a and permanent fixture. >> expected the americans not to stand for the war and thought they would tear it down. there were demonstrations so

there was a willingness to help. that spread to us and motivated us. >> today, those desperate days are history. they have a happy life together, made possible by a chance meeting during an escape under the berlin wall. >> i often wondered how states conspired to totogether. it would have been wonderful if there had never been a well at all. >> there is no mention of this love story. it is one of many touching stories about escaping from east berlin. >> incredible. for young people on both sides of the former border, it is all one country today. in spite of the remaining economic differences, parts of the east are now outpacing formerly prosperous regions. >> in our next report, we look

at two families, one from the west, and one from the east to traded places to see what life was like on the other side of the old iron curtain. let's take a look. >> is there a still it -- is there still a divide between the east and west? two families have decided to change places temporarily. >> i thought the value was going to be sandy thomas downey, and there. >> this family in western germany is off to leipzig's in the east. they are amazed. >> i did not realize it was grand. it is good quality. i was not expecting that. >> this family is disappointed compared to their hometown leipzig. >> everything has been renovated

because it had to be. here, nothing has changed for ages. it is pretty great. -- grey. >> the experiment continues. the families have to look for an apartment. they are impressed by what they find in light zig -- leipzig. rents are reasonable. but it is tougher for is the the others. they were hoping for something different. the rent might be the same as in home but not the quality. >> it is just hanging here. it used to be like that in the east along time ago.

>> there are also part of the test. the family is glad about the place they have found for their daughter, emma, who feels at home. and finally, they have to find obs. they're surprised by how much their new jobs center has to offer. >> we have three positions right here in leipzig. >> in the end, that test has been a success. it shows their preconceptions can be overcome. >> finally, we want to move on to business news. german car makers have been posting record sales figures in the u.s. but the story is not so rosy in europe. >> consumers and eurozone have been putting off buying new cars as the debt crisis which is on the economy. last month, sales figures in france fell by 20%. >> even in germany, new registrations are down.

>> the car industry had almost got used to buzzing sales and orders on the german market. but there has been a drop since july. new vehicle registrations were down 11% in september, compared to the same month last year. the crisis is starting to bite here as well. german manufacturers are starting to hurt, too. volkswagen and mercedes. mercedes's sales dropped 11% in september and vw plunged 20%. in the u.s., the same manufacturer has cause to celebrate. mercedes rose 7% and vw, 34%. so the german car industry is commenting in europe but rejoicing in the u.s. there seems to be no ended to the american's desire for new cars. and the big three u.s. carmakers are also reaping the

benefits. they all forecasts strong sales for the coming months and well into 2013. >> stay with us here. we will bring you the very latest on the situation in northern syria where turkey has launched attacks in retaliation for an attack on its citizens. we will bring you the latest on that in the next edition of "the journal" in about half an hour. >> you can find more on our web site, www.dw.de.